Prime Minister Stoltenberg: Norway has conquered hate

• Tweet
• 
• 

• Tweet

OSLO — Norwegians have collectively defeated hatred, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Sunday at a remembrance ceremony for the 77 victims of last month’s twin attacks.

“Together we have conquered hate. Together, let us embrace openness, tolerance and a sense of community,” he said, as thousands remembered the country’s worst bloodshed since World War II.

“We will welcome home those who have strayed. But those who resort to violence, we will combat them with the full democratic arsenal. Everywhere they go, they will find us standing in their way,” he said.

Stoltenberg urged the population to continue assisting survivors and relatives of the victims.

“The mourning process of the families includes challenges that we can hardly begin to imagine: an empty chair in the dining room, a birthday without the star of the party, the first Christmas,” he said.

“You can all help. Bake a cake. Offer coffee. Go for a walk together. There is no greater gift than kindness,” said the prime minister, who has been unanimously hailed for his dignified and quintessentially Norwegian handling of the crisis aftermath.